Originally Posted by perseus

The two Polish cities I mentioned earlier are the obvious candidates

Łódź → Litzmannstadt → Łódź
Zabrze → Hindenburg → Zabrze

but are you saying the city has still got a Germanic name?

Yes, it still bears the Germanic name

Konigsberg (cute little arrow) Kaliningrad (cute little arrow) Konigsberg??!?
It is the capital of the province of Kaliningrad, and it was named after Mikhail Kalinin, the chairman of the Supreme Soviet.

Dean.

Originally Posted by Dean

Konigsberg (cute little arrow) Kaliningrad (cute little arrow) Konigsberg??!?
It is the capital of the province of Kaliningrad, and it was named after Mikhail Kalinin, the chairman of the Supreme Soviet.

Dean.

Dean,

you are getting close!

But what is German in Mikhail Kalinin?
Remember, the city has been named AFTER a German person!
Think, who (from all the Germans) the Soviets would think as worthy to name a city after him or her?
Then it will be easy...

Think, who (from all the Germans) the Soviets would think as worthy to name a city after him or her?
Then it will be easy...

Only one person. But it doesn't fit. Chemnitz was renamed to Karl-Marx-Stadt ("Karl Marx City"). It returned to the original name of Chemnitz, and it isn't in that provence.

Originally Posted by perseus

Only one person. But it doesn't fit. Chemnitz was renamed to Karl-Marx-Stadt ("Karl Marx City"). It returned to the original name of Chemnitz, and it isn't in that provence.

I thought of Karl-Marx-Stadt too but it doesn't fit the clues.

Gents, where did I say that city is in Germany?
However, I have said IT WERE THE SOVIETS who renamed the city!!!
Not the East Germans, not the Red Chinese....
The Russians WOULDN'T rename the city in East Germany or Poland themselves!
They have had enough local toadies to do it for them and make it look appropriate...

Another clue(that has been mentioned in the question) - the city has been renamed before WWII, but lost it's status DURING the war!

However, Karl Marx was a good candidate, very close to the correct one!

Ok this may seem like an odd request but is there any chance we are going to move back toward WW2 related questions and away from geography class?

I like geography as much as the next guy but this is a WW2 thread but from what I am seeing the links to WW2 seem pretty tenuous at best and are no doubt going to lead to more and more obscure questions like "how many army vehicles drove through my town in WW2" followed by "what was the name of the cat that stood on the corner in 1942".

Persnally I dont mind the location questions but can we please give them actual WW2 meaning ie "What city was captured in 1941" or "This city played a major role in ww2 jet engine development", while they are reasonably obscure they also gives people something to aim at and are based on WW2.

Originally Posted by MontyB

Ok this may seem like an odd request but is there any chance we are going to move back toward WW2 related questions and away from geography class?

I like geography as much as the next guy but this is a WW2 thread but from what I am seeing the links to WW2 seem pretty tenuous at best and are no doubt going to lead to more and more obscure questions like "how many army vehicles drove through my town in WW2" followed by "what was the name of the cat that stood on the corner in 1942".

Persnally I dont mind the location questions but can we please give them actual WW2 meaning ie "What city was captured in 1941" or "This city played a major role in ww2 jet engine development", while they are reasonably obscure they also gives people something to aim at and are based on WW2.

I would completeley agree with you, MontyB, as long as you give me the right answer. It is VERY related to WWII, however, it is not my fault that you, Westerners know so little about the Eastern front, so I have to give away hints, including those that might not be related directly to WWII.

For any Soviet educated person with some knowledge of WWII history it would be no-brainer.

However, I can let you post a new question and be through with this quiz

Originally Posted by boris116

I would completeley agree with you, MontyB, as long as you give me the right answer. It is VERY related to WWII, however, it is not my fault that you, Westerners know so little about the Eastern front, so I have to give away hints, including those that might not be related directly to WWII.

For any Soviet educated person with some knowledge of WWII history it would be no-brainer.

However, I can let you post a new question and be through with this quiz

I dont disagree with your assessment of western knowledge of Soviet education hell I freely admit I know nothing of it but if we follow this path to its conclusion how much would others know of say New Zealand WW2 involvement and we have the major advantage of not being easily googled (I am pretty sure I could get this place tied up for months with Maori placenames and figures but what good would that do to the thread) this is one of the reasons I tend to ask questions that are reasonably generic as it allows the maximum possible participation.

I dont see any reason to post new questions I am just hoping we can get things moving a bit quicker and hopefully encourage a few more people to participate.

How about, Engels the city in Saratov Oblast, Russia?